NHK on Youtube

[Frederick Veith]

While I'm likely sympathetic to at least some of what I imagine might
be the reasons for criticizing this move, I think it's a bit much to
simply call it "stupid". It may be helpful to compare the move to how
other licensed public broadcasters have operated online. The BBC, for
instance, which has probably gone further than anyone in providing
online access, limits use of their online service to UK IP addresses.
It's difficult to imagine how they (or anyone) would be able to
justify providing content for free internationally while continuing to
collect a license fee domestically. So, unsurprisingly, the BBC's
plans to roll out their service internationally depends precisely on a
subscription model on the iPad. Indeed, NHK's move online is probably
being made in conjunction with their plans to universalize the license
fee in Japan specifically to cover online access (and cut down on
non-payment)--a step in the opposite direction from providing their
content for free. Whatever our own wishes for access may be, it's
important to realize that the technological infrastructure to support
services like this takes time and money to develop and operate. This
is a non-trivial issue: someone has to pay the bill. In the absence of
a technology bubble causing money to rain from the sky, the
overwhelming trend these days is to charge money for content online.
It's only superficially true that NHK is offering this service "free
of charge" even in Japan. It's being paid for by the NHK license fee,
soon to be extended to every household in Japan.

Whether NHK (or any other Japanese company) should do more to develop
markets internationally is, I think, a separate question. But if and
when it happens online, it's likely to be in the form of a
subscription.

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 7:39 AM, Mark Nornes <amnornes at umich.edu> wrote:
> Mark Schilling reports on Variety that.....
>
> NHK Enterprises, a subsid of pubcaster NHK that sells and acquires
> programming, is partnering with YouTube Japan to offer NHK programs on the
> site free of charge.
>
> The programs on offer include popular NHK dramas and educational shows.
>
> The service, called NHK Program Collection, launched on Monday with 200
> uncut shows, as well as 30 three-minute edited highlights from programs,
> with new content to be added regularly. It can only be viewed on PCs in
> Japan, though it may expand to cell phones as well.
>
> Not offering it globally is simply stupid.
> m
>